Human civilization is fairly short-lived and having undergone several wars, humans have only just begun to understand that democracy is a more acceptable social system.
Taiwanese voted for a reliable and trustworthy government so that they do not have to worry about food safety, security or the quality of healthcare, and least of all eggs.
Even if there were no eggs on the shelves for a few days, people would not panic, because they know they are living in a free society, and that eggs would be back on the shelves as soon as the government responds to the shortage. After all, eggs are not everyday essentials and any food that contains amino acids can be an alternative.
However, Taiwan has been plagued by egg-related controversies since the beginning of this year.
It all started with a legislator questioning the government’s egg import program, then snowballed into a nationwide furor of people having qualms about eggs, with some even calling for Minister of Agriculture Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) to resign from his post. In response to the controversy, the government has offered many explanations to reassure people.
Nevertheless, anyone who searches for “eggs” on the Internet would see a series of misleading news reports. For two months certain media outlets have been issuing reports lambasting the Ministry of Agriculture for several things, such as how the government was “overfunding” egg import companies and the dangers of expired imported eggs, while giving a slap on the wrist to hoarders who caused shortage in the first place.
This kind of overwhelming and biased reporting aims to destroy consumers’ trust in the government’s agricultural policies. The same playbook can be seen in last year’s local elections, when there were waves of attacks on plagiarism and academic credentials or the government’s strategy to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.
The high volume of one-sided news reporting aims to brainwash the public by sowing mistrust, and creating social division through coercive persuasion and cognitive manipulation. I believe Taiwanese, with their educated background and sophisticated grasp of common knowledge, have the media literacy to tell the true from the false, and not fall for these ideological fallacies.
Chen Chiao-chicy is a psychiatrist at Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei and an adjunct professor.
Translated by Rita Wang
In late January, Taiwan’s first indigenous submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), completed its first submerged dive, reaching a depth of roughly 50m during trials in the waters off Kaohsiung. By March, it had managed a fifth dive, still well short of the deep-water and endurance tests required before the navy could accept the vessel. The original delivery deadline of November last year passed months ago. CSBC Corp, Taiwan, the lead contractor, now targets June and the Ministry of National Defense is levying daily penalties for every day the submarine remains unfinished. The Hai Kun was supposed to be
Most schoolchildren learn that the circumference of the Earth is about 40,000km. They do not learn that the global economy depends on just 160 of those kilometers. Blocking two narrow waterways — the Strait of Hormuz and the Taiwan Strait — could send the economy back in time, if not to the Stone Age that US President Donald Trump has been threatening to bomb Iran back to, then at least to the mid-20th century, before the Rolling Stones first hit the airwaves. Over the past month and a half, Iran has turned the Strait of Hormuz, which is about 39km wide at
The ongoing Middle East crisis has reinforced an uncomfortable truth for Taiwan: In an increasingly interconnected and volatile world, distant wars rarely remain distant. What began as a regional confrontation between the US, Israel and Iran has evolved into a strategic shock wave reverberating far beyond the Persian Gulf. For Taiwan, the consequences are immediate, material and deeply unsettling. From Taipei’s perspective, the conflict has exposed two vulnerabilities — Taiwan’s dependence on imported energy and the risks created when Washington’s military attention is diverted. Together, they offer a preview of the pressures Taiwan might increasingly face in an era of overlapping geopolitical
What began on Feb. 28 as a military campaign against Iran quickly became the largest energy-supply disruption in modern times. Unlike the oil crises of the 1970s, which stemmed from producer-led embargoes, US President Donald Trump is the first leader in modern history to trigger a cascading global energy crisis through direct military action. In the process, Trump has also laid bare Taiwan’s strategic and economic fragilities, offering Beijing a real-time tutorial in how to exploit them. Repairing the damage to Persian Gulf oil and gas infrastructure could take years, suggesting that elevated energy prices are likely to persist. But the most
RSS